The importance of a better understanding of arrhythmic risk lies, in public health terms, in the prevention of sudden cardiac death. Approximately 50% of all coronary deaths are sudden, occurring within 1 h of the onset of symptoms. Most cases of sudden cardiac death have coronary artery disease present at autopsy, although in approximately 50% this will not have been clinically apparent prior ...

From the Aphorisms of Hippocrates to the sports fields of the twenty-first century, by both the lay public and the medical community, the cardiomyopathies have been recognized as causes of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Prevention of SCD in the cardiomyopathies is a 2-fold challenge. First, and central to clinical practice, is the need for reliable prognostication in individuals with established d...

Sudden cardiac death in young athletes is an infrequent, but catastrophic event. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, coronary artery anomalies, and arrhythmias are common identifiable causes of sudden cardiac death. Many of these disorders can be difficult to diagnose, and athletes may be completely asymptomatic prior to their sudden death event. This article reviews causes of sudden cardiac death in ...

Ca2+ cycling plays a critical role in heart failure and lethal arrhythmias. As susceptibility to sudden cardiac death is considered to be a heritable trait in general population, we have therefore investigated whether potentially functional variants of genes encoding RyR2 (ryanodine receptor 2) and the L-type Ca2+ channel are related to the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac dea...

Despite tremendous advances in the management of cardiovascular diseases and cardiac arrest, there is paucity of information regarding sudden cardiac death in sub-Saharan Africa. We present a two-year review of sudden cardiac death cases among patients managed at a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Patients admitted from January 2012 to December 2013 were prospectively followed-up and cases of sudden...